Herbert Henry Cleal was born on 6th November 1899, in the Somerset village of Hambridge. The tenth of twelve children, his parents were Daniel and Emily Cleal.

Daniel was a cowman on a farm, and it is likely that Herbert would have started in agricultural labouring, had war not intervened.

Full details of Herbert’s military service are not available, although it is clear that he had enlisted in the Worcestershire Regiment by the summer of 1918. By this point in the war, Private Cleal’s battalion – the 2nd/8th Battalion – was already in France, although, according to his records, it does not appear as if he saw any service overseas himself.

The only other record for Herbert is his entry in the Army Register of Soldiers’ Effects. This confirms that he passed away at Bradford War Hospital on 1st January 1919. The cause of his passing is not noted, but he had just turned 19 years of age.

Herbert Henry Cleal was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of St James-the-Less Church in his home village of Hambridge.

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